he hadn't just been re-elected. the dynamics of the policy situation were such that were doing nothing hurt the president more than it hurt the republicans. most people think it's the reverse now. in fairness to boehner, he's got the same problem he had before. he has a caucus. i suspect if you put boehner and the president in a room together, they could probably find out some deal. but the problem for boehner, he has this conservative caucus. the interesting question is how long will it take, what will it take for him to sell his republicans, his republican kau caucus on a deal. >> does he have the big enough stick, can he pull them into line, which is really the question here. do they see there being a significant cost for them. they're two years out from an election, right? two whole years. a lot happens in that time. do they see enough of a cost for bucking the president here. >> up next, the other thing i love about second terms is everything that changes had terms of personnel right? you get to line up a new c